Introduction

You may not know that Best Buy, the behemoth of consumer electronics retailing, sells its own house-brand of electronics under the brands Dynex and Insignia. They might get a bad rap, but there's nothing inherently wrong with house brands. Frequently, the products are coming from the same factories as the bigger brands, but at a lower cost to you. How is this possible?. In this case, the frills are gone. These TVs are thick and boxy. They have ugly menus and unattractive packaging. They also save money because they don't have to advertise. Best Buy will always give their own brands prominent real estate in their stores.

Today, we're focusing on the Insignia NS-50L240A13 (MSRP $650), a TV that best exemplifies the house-brand strategy. It's low-frills, inexpensive, yet manages to hit all the specs that people want (at least think they want): a big screen, 1080p resolution, and a handful of features you'll probably never use. Nevertheless, the picture quality is pretty decent – just don't expect top-of-the-line.